International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

1401-1402

OPTIMIZATION OF WIRE EDM PARAMETERS TO ACHIEVE

A FINE SURFACE FINISH

Ramaraju Srinivasa Rao 1, Kandathil Abraham Mathew2, Godi Subba Rao3,

1 Research Scholar, Department Of Mechanical Engineering,HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,Hyderabad,India
2 professor , Department Of Mechanical Engineering, HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,Hyderabad,India
3 professor , Department Of Mechanical Engineering, HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,Hyderabad,India

Abstract
Wire Cut Electric Discharge Machining process with a thin wire as an electrode transforms electrical energy to thermal
energy for cutting materials. WEDM is considered as a unique adoption of the conventional EDM process, which uses
an electrode to initialize the sparking process. However, WEDM utilizes a continuously travelling wire electrode made of
thin copper, brass or tungsten of diameter 0.05-0.30 mm, which is capable of achieving very small corner radii. The wire
is kept in tension using a mechanical tensioning device reducing the tendency of producing inaccurate parts. During
the WEDM process, the material is eroded ahead of the wire and there is no direct contact between the work piece and
the wire, eliminating the mechanical stresses during machining.
The objective of the present work is to investigate the effects of the various Wire cut EDM process parameters on the
machining quality and obtain the optimal sets of process parameters so that the quality of machined parts can be optimized. Experimental work will be done on the pieces varying materials and parameters.
The materials used for machining are Aluminum alloy, EN8 alloy steel and copper. The process parameters considered
are Pulse Time on, Pulse Time off, Input Power, Wire Feed, Servo Voltage and Wire Tension. The range of values varied
are Time on 118 sec, 120 sec and 128 sec, Time off 50 sec, 55 sec, 63 sec, Input power 210amp, 220amp,
230amp. Wire feed, wire tension and servo voltage are kept constant. The optimization will be done by using taguchi
technique by considering L9 orthogonal array. Optimization is done using Minitab software.

*Corresponding Author:
Ramaraju Srinivasa Rao ,
Research Scholar,
Department Of Mechanical Engineering, HyderabadInstituteOf
Technology And Management,Hyderabad,India
Published: June 26, 2015
Review Type: peer reviewed
Volume: II, Issue : III

Citation: RamarajuSrinivasaRao,Research Scholar

(2015) OPTIMIZATION OF WIRE EDM PARAMETERS TO
ACHIEVE A FINE SURFACE FINISH

INTRODUCTION TO EDM
A machining method typically used for hard metals, Electrical Discharge Machining (commonly known as "EDM
Machining") makes it possible to work with metals for
which traditional machining techniques are ineffective.
An important point to remember with EDM Machining is
that it will only work with materials that are electrically
conductive.

ics industries where production quantities remain low.

When the distance between the two electrodes is reduced,
the intensity of the electric field in the volume between
the electrodes becomes greater than the strength of the
dielectric (at least in some point(s)), which breaks, allowing current to flow between the two electrodes. This phenomenon is the same as the breakdown of a capacitor
(condenser) (see also breakdown voltage). As a result, material is removed from both the electrodes. Once the current flow stops (or it is stopped depending on the type of
generator), new liquid dielectric is usually conveyed into
the inter-electrode volume enabling the solid particles
(debris) to be carried away and the insulating properties
of the dielectric to be restored. Adding new liquid dielectric in the inter-electrode volume is commonly referred
to as flushing. Also, after a current flow, a difference of
potential between the two electrodes is restored to what it
was before the breakdown, so that a new liquid dielectric
breakdown can occur.

With good EDM Machining equipment it is possible to cut

small odd-shaped angles, detailed contours or cavities in
hardened steel as well as exotic metals like titanium, hastelloy, kovar, inconel, and carbide.
The EDM Process is commonly used in the Tool and Die
industry for mold-making, however in recent years EDM
has become a integral part for making prototype and production parts. This is seen in the aerospace and electron-

EDM machine

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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

APPLICATIONS
Prototype production
The EDM process is most widely used by the mold-making tool and die industries, but is becoming a common
method of making prototype and production parts, especially in the aerospace, automobile and electronics industries in which production quantities are relatively low. In
sinker EDM, a graphite, copper tungsten or pure copper
electrode is machined into the desired (negative) shape
and fed into the workpiece on the end of a vertical ram.
Coinage die making

als such as tool steel, aluminum, copper, and graphite,

to exotic space-age alloys including hastaloy, waspaloy,
inconel, titanium, carbide, polycrystalline diamond compacts and conductive ceramics. The wire does not touch
the workpiece, so there is no physical pressure imparted
on the workpiece compared to grinding wheels and milling cutters. The amount of clamping pressure required to
hold small, thin and fragile parts is minimal, preventing
damage or distortion to the workpiece.
The accuracy, surface finish and time required to complete a job is extremely predictable, making it much easier
to quote, EDM leaves a totally random pattern on the surface as compared to tooling marks left by milling cutters
and grinding wheels. The EDM process leaves no residual
burrs on the workpiece, which reduces or eliminates the
need for subsequent finishing operations.

INTRODUCTION TO SURFACE ROUGHNESS

Small hole drilling

Surface roughness, often shortened to roughness, is a

measure of the texture of a surface. It is quantified by the
vertical deviations of a real surface from its ideal form. If
these deviations are large, the surface is rough; if they
are small the surface is smooth. Roughness is typically
considered to be the high frequency, short wavelength
component of a measured surface (see surface metrology).
However, in practice it is often necessary to know both
the amplitude and frequency to ensure that a surface is
fit for purpose.
Roughness plays an important role in determining how a
real object will interact with its environment. Rough surfaces usually wear more quickly and have higher friction
coefficients than smooth surfaces (see tribology). Roughness is often a good predictor of the performance of a mechanical component, since irregularities in the surface
may form nucleation sites for cracks or corrosion. On the
other hand, roughness may promote adhesion.

A turbine blade with internal cooling as applied in the

high-pressure turbine.

Although roughness is often undesirable, it is difficult

and expensive to control in manufacturing. Decreasing
the roughness of a surface will usually increase exponentially its manufacturing costs. This often results in a
trade-off between the manufacturing cost of a component
and its performance in application.
Roughness can be measured by manual comparison
against a "surface roughness comparator", a sample of
known surface roughnesses, but more generally a Surface
profile measurement is made with a profilometer that can
be contact (typically a diamond styles) or optical (e.g. a
white light interferometer).

Small hole drilling EDM is used in a variety of applications.

WIRE CUT EDM MACHINE

Wire EDM (Vertical EDM's kid brother), is not the new
kid on the block. It was introduced in the late 1960s',
and has revolutionized the tool and die, mold, and metalworking industries. It is probably the most exciting and
diversified machine tool developed for this industry in the
last fifty years, and has numerous advantages to offer. It
can machine anything that is electrically conductive regardless of the hardness, from relatively common materi-

However, controlled roughness can often be desirable. For

example, a gloss surface can be too shiny to the eye and
too slippy to the finger (a touchpad is a good example) so
a controlled roughness is required. This is a case where
both amplitude and frequency are important. The scattering of light Light scattering obviously depends both on
amplitude and frequency. Less obviously, touch (or Haptic
perception) is mediated by both amplitude and frequency
detectors in the finger.
PARAMETERS
A roughness value can either be calculated on a profile
(line) or on a surface (area). The profile roughness parameter (Ra, Rq,...) are more common. The area roughness
parameters (Sa, Sq,...) give more significant values.

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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

Experiments have been performed in order to investigate
the effects of one or more factors of the process parameters on the surface finish of the wire cut machined surface of different materials.
The main aim of the project is to determine the influence
of time on, time off, wire feed and input power. The investigation is based on surface roughness during machining
of Alloy Steel, Aluminum alloy and Copper.

wire erosions and then is discarded. The wires once used

cannot be reused again, due to the variation in dimensional accuracy.
Properties of the electrodes are tabulated below.

Element

Cu

Fe

Pb

Zn

Wt%

89-91

<=0.05

<=0.05

10

Composition of Brass Wire

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The selected work piece materials for this research work
are EN 8 Steel, Aluminum alloy and Copper materials.
Experiments have been conducted on wire cut edm. The
machine details are:
WIRE EDM CNC SPRINT CUT 734 (ELECTRANICA
SPRINT CUT 734), Make: ELECTRIONCA LTD, PUNE

Density

7.845 (g/cm)

Specific capacity

486 (J/kg k)

Thermal conductivity

24.7(W/m k)

Electrical resistivity

0.0000171 cm

Modulus of elasticity

200 G Pa

Density

2.81 (g/cm)

Specific capacity

880 (J/kg k)

Thermal conductivity

138 (W/m k)

Electrical resistivity

0.0000045 cm

Modulus of elasticity

70.3 G Pa

wire cut cnc

Technical Specification

Material Properties of EN8 steel

Material Properties of Aluminum Alloy

Density

8.93 (g/cm)

Specific capacity

385 (J/kg k)

Thermal conductivity

385 (W/m k)

Electrical resistivity

0.0000017 cm

Modulus of elasticity

110 G Pa

Material Properties of Copper

PROCESS PARAMETERS AND DESIGN

Input process parameters such as Pulse On time (TON),
Pulse Off time (TOFF), Peak Current (IP), used in this thesis are shown in Table. Each factor is investigated at three
levels to determine the optimum settings for the WEDM
process. Wire feed is 3m/min, Wire Tension is 7 Kgf and
Servo Feed is kept constant at 2.1 m/min.

An electrolytic brass (Zinc coated) wire with a diameter of

2mm has been used as a tool electrode (positive polarity)
and work piece materials used are EN8 Steel, Aluminum
alloy and Copper materials rectangular plates of dimensions 8030 mm and of thickness 6 mm. Commercial
grades EDM oil will be used as dielectric fluid. Lateral
flushing with a pressure of 7MPa will be used. The influence of time on, time off, wire feed and input power rate
have been treated as controllable process factors. A collection tank is located at the bottom to collect the used
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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

SURFACE FINISH RESULTS

In this project most important output performances in
WEDM such as Surface Roughness (Ra) is considered
for optimizing machining parameters. The surface finish
value (in m) was obtained by measuring the mean absolute deviation, Ra (surface roughness) from the average
surface level using a Computer controlled surface roughness tester.
Surface Finish Tester Model Surtronic 3+, Rank Taylor Hobson Ltd., Made in England which is periodically
calibrated using Reference Specimen Type 112/1534. Lab
Temperature 20 200C.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Actual Surface Finish Values Ra
S.No.

EN8

ALUMINUM

COPPER

0.66

0.3

0.16

0.75

0.36

0.19

0.82

0.41

0.21

0.71

0.33

0.18

0.79

0.39

0.2

0.94

0.45

0.28

1.62

1.04

0.74

1.28

0.88

0.42

1.4

0.94

0.66

SURFACE FINISH RESULTS

surface finish tester

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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

pulse time on vs surface roughness

pulse time off vs surface roughness

SURFACE ROUGHNESS COMPARISON GRAPH

FOR THREE MATERIALS

peak current vs surface roughness

SELECTION OF OPTIMAL PARAMETER COMBINATION

FOR BETTER SURFACE QUALITY IN WIRE CUT EDM
USING TAGUCHI TECHNIQUE
The Experimental results show the effect of three process
parameters surface roughness.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS EN8 STEEL

comparison of surface finish for three materials

JOB NO:

Ra (m)

118

50

210

0.66

118

55

220

0.75

118

63

230

0.82

120

50

220

0.71

120

55

230

0.79

120

63

210

0.94

128

50

230

1.62

128

55

210

1.28

128

63

220

1.4

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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

ALUMINUM

ALUMINUM RESULTS

JOB NO:

Ra (m)

118

50

210

0.3

118

55

220

0.36

118

63

230

0.41

120

50

220

0.33

120

55

230

0.39

120

63

210

0.45

128

50

230

1.04

128

55

210

0.88

128

63

220

0.94

COPPER

Effect of parameters surface roughness for S/N ratio

JOB NO :

Ra (m)

118

50

210

0.16

118

55

220

0.19

118

63

230

0.21

120

50

220

0.18

120

55

230

0.2

120

63

210

0.28

128

50

230

0.74

128

55

210

0.42

128

63

220

0.66

TAGUCHI PARAMETER DESIGN - OPTIMIZATION

OF PARAMETERS USING MINITAB SOFTWARE

COPPER RESULTS

EN8 STEEL RESULTS

Effect of parameters surface roughness for S/N ratio

Effect of parameters surface roughness for S/N ratio

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International Journal of Research and Innovation (IJRI)

CONCLUSION
The objective of the present work is to investigate the effects of the various Wire cut EDM process parameters on
the machining quality and obtain the optimal sets of process parameters so that the quality of machined parts can
be optimized. Experiments are conducted on the pieces
varying materials and parameters. The materials used for
machining are Aluminum alloy, EN8 alloy steel and copper. The process parameters considered are Pulse Time
on, Pulse Time off, Input Power, Wire Feed, Servo Voltage
and Wire Tension. The range of values varied are Time on
118 sec, 120 sec and 128 sec, Time off 50 sec, 55
sec, 63 sec, Input power 210amp, 220amp, 230amp.
Wire feed, wire tension and servo voltage are kept constant. The optimization is done by using taguchi technique by considering L9 orthogonal array. Optimization is
done using Minitab software.
By observing the experimental results, the surface roughness values are increasing by increasing the pulse time
on, pulse time off. The surface roughness values are
decreasing by increasing the peak current. The surface
quality is better when machining copper than EN8 steel
and aluminum.
By observing the minitab S/N ratio results, the optimum
parameters for better surface quality when machining
EN8 steel and aluminum are Pulse Time On - 118 sec,
Pulse Time Off - 50 sec and Peak Current 220amp.
For machining copper, the optimum parameters are Pulse
Time On - 118 sec, Pulse Time Off - 55 sec and Peak
Current 210amp

author

Ramaraju Srinivasa Rao

Research Scholar,
Department Of Mechanical Engineering,
HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,
Hyderabad,India

Kandathil Abraham Mathew (project Guide)

Department Of Mechanical Engineering,

HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,
Hyderabad,India

REFERENCES
1.Evaluation of Optimal Parameters for machining with
Wire cut EDM Using Grey-Taguchi Method by S V Subrahmanyam, M. M. M. Sarcar
2.Performance Analysis of Wire Electric Discharge Machining (W-EDM) by Atul Kumar, DR.D.K.Singh
3.Analysis of Process Parameters in Wire EDM with Stainless Steel Using Single Objective Taguchi Method and
Multi Objective Grey Relational Grade by M. Durairaja, D.
Sudharsunb, N. Swamynathan
4.Optimization of process parameters of micro wire EDM
by Ricky Agarwal
5.A Study to Achieve a Fine Surface Finish in Wire-EDM
by J.T. Huang, Y.S. Liao and Y.H. Chen
6.Rajurkar K.P., Scott D, Boyina S., Analysis and Optimization of Parameter Combination in Wire Electrical
Discharge Machining, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 29, No. 11, 1991, PP 2189- 2207.
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effect of electrode material on machinability in wire electro-discharge machining, Journal of Materials Processing technology, 69, 1997, PP 233-237.
9. (A) Y.S. Liao, Y.Y. Chu and M.T. Yan, Study of wire
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555-567. (B) Y.S Liao , J.T.Huang, A study on the machining parameter optimization of WEDM, Journal of Material Processing Technology,71(1997) pp. 487-493
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Godi Subba Rao, (HOD)

Department Of Mechanical Engineering,
HyderabadInstituteOf Technology And Management,
Hyderabad,India

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